Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Cinder

by Marissa Meyers

Humans and androids
crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the
population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make
their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl.

Cinder,
a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a
mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her
stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the
handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an
intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty
and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her
past in order to protect her world’s future.

A Guest Post by Marissa Meyers

I'm so thrilled that Cinder was chosen as one of your battle books this year. I don't think we had Battle of the Books when I was in school - or if we did, my school didn't participate - but I like to think I would have rocked that battle if we had. I do clearly recall the excitement of receiving the Scholastic catalogues each season, the singular joy of discovering a book that I absolutely adored and wanted to share with all my friends, and that surprising moment when I would realize that a book I was reading "for school" turned out to be kind of awesome.

See, I've always been an avid reader, a lover of books. My mom claims that one of my first words was "story" (along with "cookie," because I had priorities). I have fond memories of filling my arms with books at my local library, and staying up way past my bedtime to read them. And I remember that shocking realization I had when I was still pretty young, that behind every book was a real person who had the job of writing that story. The knowledge that one could tell stories for a living was new and brilliant and I knew very early on that this was what I wanted to do with my life.

So to think that my life has come full circle now - that students may be discovering my books through their teachers or libraries or Scholastic catalogues, through their Battle of the Books list - is mind-boggling and a little bit magical.

I very much hope you'll enjoy getting to know Cinder and the world of the Lunar Chronicles, and that you'll totally rock this year's Battle of the Books! Good luck!

About the Author

One of my first spoken words was “story” (right along with “bath” and
“cookie”), my favorite toy as an infant was a soft, squishable book,
and I’ve wanted to be a writer since I first realized such a job
existed.

When I was fourteen my best friend introduced me to anime and
fanfiction—over the years I would complete over forty Sailor Moon
fanfics under the penname Alicia Blade. Those so inclined can still
find my first stories at fanfiction.net. Writing fanfic turned out to
be awesome fun and brought me in contact with an amazing group of
fanfiction readers and writers. As Alicia Blade, I also had a novelette,
“The Phantom of Linkshire Manor,” published in the gothic romance
anthology Bound in Skin (CatsCurious Press, 2007).

When I was sixteen I worked at The Old Spaghetti Factory in Tacoma,
Washington, affectionately termed “The Spag.” (Random factoid: This is
also the restaurant where my parents met some 25 years before.) I
attended Pacific Lutheran University where I sorted mail that came to
the dorm, carted tables and chairs around campus, and took writing
classes, eventually earning a Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing and
Children’s Literature. Knowing I wanted a career in books, I would also
go on to receive a Master’s degree in Publishing from Pace University. After graduation, I worked as an editor in Seattle for a while before becoming a freelance typesetter and proofreader.

Then, day of days, someone thought it would be a good idea to give me
a book deal, so I became a full-time writer. CINDER is my first novel,
though I have an adorable collection of unfinished ones lying around
too.

I now live with my husband and our three cats (Calexandria Josephine,
Stormus Enormous, and Blackland Rockwell III), who go in and out, in
and out, about eight hundred times a day. My favorite non-bookish things
include Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, re-watching episodes of Firefly,
and playing all manners of dress-up. (bio from author website)

I just finished Cinder and it held my interest right up until the end. I wish there was more! I can't wait to read Scarlet and see what happens next in the story. I really liked how the basic storyline of Cinderella was used, but given that modern, dystopian society aspect. It's like a fractured fairy tale with an edge.

I loved Cinder! The way the author twisted a traditional fairy tale with a science fiction story was just amazing. It helped me to kind of know what would happen, but I was still surprised as the story went on. So much fun!

Cinder is an amazing book that will captivate you from the first page. While it is hard to connect with the problems that Cinder faces, considering she is a cyborg immune to the plague that is sweeping the nation, it still pulls you in and touches your heart.

I was getting a hint of Cinderella here!Cinder exceeded my expectations. It was more real and more edgy then the famous Cinderella. It was one of my all-time favorites, and an inevitable classic.Hazelwood North Middle

People at my school keep scolding me, saying things like, "Oh my gosh, how have you not read this book yet!?" or "You need to read it NOW!!" This got me excited to read this book! I'm sure it's going to be awesome! I can't wait to read it!

WELCOME

Dear Book Battle Sponsors and Teams,

Welcome to The Area Wide Book Battle blog. We hope that this will make getting information a lot more user friendly. In addition, we will use this site to keep you up to date on what is going on from the time the book battle list appears in August, until the day of the battle.